But after one month tweeting from the Homeless In Melbourne Twitter account the men, with their two cats in tow, had navigated crisis centres, raised the bond money for a two-bedroom unit in Reservoir, and furnished it with contributions from strangers.

The account (@HomelessInMelb) was created on Boxing Day last year by 21-year-old uni student, Jamie Young. His inspiration was @WeMelbourne where rotating guests tweet for a week about life in the city.

''My intention was to let people who are homeless and on the street have a voice and let the world know their story so people in similar situations can learn from them,'' Mr Young said.

Some followers wondered how many homeless people use Twitter, but Mr Brown, who tweets from his smartphone, said unexpectedly falling on hard times did not preclude access to the internet. ''I wanted to challenge the stereotype that everyone who is homeless is dirty and sitting in a corner somewhere,'' he said.